WATERLOO — Jeremy Settle took to the stage, telling his peers gathered at Waterloo Public Square that he had nowhere else to be.

The Grade 12 student at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate Institute should have been at basketball practice on a Monday afternoon.

“I can’t do that. It’s been stopped,” said the 17-year-old as the crowd jeered and booed. Some students carrying placards began chanting “Let us play.”

Instead, Settle and about 250 other public high school students gathered after school at the public square to show their frustration at the suspension of extracurricular activities in Waterloo Region’s public high schools.

“We are not here to point fingers. We are here so that our collective voices are heard,” said Settle, whose parents are both teachers.

Settle said students are caught in the middle of a fight between the provincial government and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

The union said it would pull teacher participation in sports teams and clubs as a form of protest against Bill 115 starting Monday. The legislation allows the government to impose contracts on teachers.

The provincial government has set a deadline of Dec. 31 for unions and school boards to negotiate deals that are similar to the ones reached by Catholic teachers. Those deals include the freezing of wages and cutting the number of sick days cashed out at retirement.

KCI student Jack Meyer told the group that removing extracurriculars is unfair to students who rely on them.

“Does it make school better?” said Meyer, who received a resounding yes from the crowd.

“We are pleading to the government and the federation to sort this out so we can get back to what we love,” he said.

Raven Cousens, a Grade 12 student at KCI has been part of the school’s drama production each year.

“It’s the highlight of the school year,” said Cousens, who plans to go to Ryerson University to study drama next year.

Waterloo Collegiate Institute student Aysun Osmansoy said extracurriculars teach students time-management skills and discipline, and add to their resumes.

“Extracurriculars show our amazing capabilities and potential,” said Osmansoy, who plays soccer, field hockey, badminton and volleyball.

“We shouldn’t be caught in the crossfire,” she said.

Osmansoy is afraid that championship games at the regional and provincial level could be in jeopardy. “I will cry,” she said.

WCI student Emily Will said morale is low at school.

“There is nothing better than seeing a student walk down the hallway wearing a jersey on game day. It’s the best feeling,” she said.

At KCI, band students are encouraging students to participate in black Thursdays, wearing only black to mourn that loss of extracurricular activities.

Earlier in the day, students at many public high schools staged protests by refusing to attend classes, sitting in hallways or the cafeteria instead.

Adam Okeil, a fifth year student at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, said students sat in the hallways and listened to student leaders explain the battle between the teachers’ unions and the government.

“People are happy to express how they are feeling. They never had this opportunity,” he said.

Melanie Scott, a Grade 10 student at Grand River Collegiate Institute, joined others in the school cafeteria instead of class Monday afternoon.

“We understand teachers have to do something so they can negotiate a contract but do something else other than pulling extracurriculars,” said Scott, who wanted to play rugby.

Scott said she’s also worried about a trip to Europe, including France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland that she and other students are planning in March. She’s already paid the full amount of $3,500 and if it’s cancelled, she’s worried she may not get all her money back.

Kitchener mother Charlotte Karger was proud of her 12-year-old daughter Gwen who attends Margaret Avenue Public School and sat in the hallway Monday afternoon.

Her daughter was anxious to start senior public school this fall so she could participate in extracurricular activities, but they never happened.